Sir, - Kitty Holland's article on Cromwell in Wexford (From the South-East, November 25th) raises the interesting idea that we may be about to forgive, if not forget, the deeds of Oliver Cromwell in Ireland, especially the extermination of "almost every citizen in Drogheda" and the slaughter of the townsfolk of Wexford, on the grounds that Cromwell was "An honourable Enemy". Tom Reilly's book should make interesting reading.
However, a side of Cromwell's character not generally publicised is that he was a keen footballer and interested in hurling. G.H. Clarke's biography of Cromwell claimed that the authentic record of Cromwell experiencing fear concerned football: " `I remember the times,' said the Lord Protector, `when I was more afraid of meeting John Wheelwright at football than I have been since of meeting an army in the field, for I was infallibly sure of being tripped up by him.' "
Five years after the Wexford massacre, it is recorded that Cromwell was a spectator at a hurling match played in London between the hurlers of Cornwall and Ireland, some of whom may well have been from Wexford. (Caman: 2,000 Years of Hurling in Ireland, by Art O Maolfabhail, p.114). - Yours, etc., Joe Lennon,
Gormanston, Co Meath.